CIF-SS playoff pairings: 5 takeaways on the matchups for all 6 Coachella Valley teams
The high school football regular season may be complete in Southern California, but it will still feel a lot like football season Friday in the Coachella Valley.
Six local teams will play in the CIF Southern Section playoffs this week, with four of those teams securing first-round home games. This year will mark the first time Palm Springs, La Quinta, Indio and Coachella Valley high schools will play in home playoff games during the same week.
Palm Desert and Yucca Valley high schools will start the playoffs on the road.
The Desert Empire League, which earned five playoff spots among its six teams last season, earned three spots this year. Those were the three automatic qualifiers — Palm Desert, Palm Springs, and La Quinta — who shared the DEL title. Palm Springs beat La Quinta; La Quinta beat Palm Desert; and Palm Desert beat Palm Springs.
Coachella Valley, which won the Desert Valley League outright with a narrow win over Indio on Friday in the Bell Game, was granted the top seed from the DVL, with Yucca Valley and Indio securing the second and third spots from the league.
These are our five takeaways from the pairings:
Aztecs have the least-favorable draw
Palm Desert (8-2) won a share of its sixth consecutive league title with a victory over Palm Springs on Friday. While that is an unprecedented feat in Coachella Valley high school football, the win pushed Palm Desert into a road matchup versus the top seed in Division 6.
The Aztecs will play at San Juan Hills (San Juan Capistrano) on Friday. The Stallions (3-7) are the top seed in the division.
Aztecs head coach Shane McComb said Sunday that he was certain that beating Palm Springs would not move his squad out of Division 7. he said he was surprised and unhappy about it, but he still plans to prepare his squad like it's business as usual.
More: 2022 high school football scoreboard, standings and stat leaders for the Coachella Valley
"We're going to put together a good game plan," McComb said, "and we're going to go beat San Juan Hills."
Aside from beating Palm Springs, what likely moved the Aztecs up into Division 6 was the CIF-SS taking 10 teams in Division 1, instead of the usual eight. Also, Serrano and Moorpark, teams similar to Palm Desert that finished 6-4 and 3-3 in their leagues, were kept out of the playoffs and that may have also moved the Aztecs up.
If Palm Desert wins on Friday, the Aztecs would then face the winner of Orange vs. Huntington Beach. Orange is at home in that matchup this week.
One week after getting his team motivated for a regular season finale with league tile implications, McComb said that he'll now get his game plan ready and his team fired up for another high-stakes game on Friday.
"We're playing a very good San Juan Hills team," McComb said, "and we're going to go out and compete and see if we can get a home game against Orange next week.
Indio gets a home game
Indio barely lost out on a share of the DVL title in the Bell Game versus Coachella Valley on Friday, but the Rajahs will not only participate in the postseason for the first time in 21 years, they'll also host a playoff game this week. Indio will host Montebello (5-5), the fifth-place team in the Almont League. The Oilers are on a three-game losing streak.
Indio (5-4) has not won a playoff game since 1993, when it beat Corona.
"Looking at our bracket," Indio head coach Daniel Hayes said, "I'm pretty confident in our chances of making a deep run. Although it was a loss, we gained a lot of confidence after the CV game. Everyone expected Coachella Valley to run away with the Bell. So, to go toe-to-toe with them was a huge confidence boost for all of Indio."
Hayes said that with the school set for a home game on Friday, administrators and the football booster club are already starting to brainstorm ideas to help pack Ed White Stadium.
It could be argued that this is the biggest football game played at Indio High in more than 20 years.
"It's a huge game for us," Hayes said.
La Quinta and Coachella Valley in Division 9
Perhaps the most interesting part of the pairings, from a local fan perspective, is that La Quinta and Coachella Valley are in the same division. The two neighboring non-league rivals played each other this year, with the Arabs getting the better of the Blackhawks, 47-22.
Since then, both teams have played quite well. La Quinta has won five of its last six games, which helped the Blackhawks to a share of their first league title in six years. Coachella Valley is currently on an eight-game win streak, won the DVL outright, and has allowed just 10 points over the last four games.
The CIF playoffs will open with La Quinta as the top seed, and Coachella Valley as the second seed in Division 9, with both teams playing Friday at home. The Blackhawks (6-4) will play Granite Hills (6-4), a school from Apple Valley that finished in fourth place in the Desert Sky League.
"We are going to focus on getting better," La Quinta head coach Juan Ruiz said. "We can't control where we're placed, therefore we don't worry about it. We look forward to the opportunity to continue competing in the post-season."
Coachella Valley (9-1) will open against Diamond Bar (9-1), the first-place team from the Hacienda League.
For those hoping for a rematch of the La Quinta versus Coachella Valley, it won't happen unless both teams reach the Division 9 championship game. Can you imagine the potential atmosphere at the game if there were a rematch?
"It would be a dream to meet them in the final," Arabs head coach Bill Johnson said, "but that's worlds away. Very good teams in this division. All focus for us is on Diamond Bar."
Will Palm Springs bounce back after a loss?
The Indians (8-2) went all season without a decisive defeat. Until Friday's loss to Palm Desert, which prevented Palm Springs from winning the DEL outright, the Indians' only other loss came on the last play of the game, in overtime, to Eisenhower (Rialto). That's it.
Palm Springs then cruised for several weeks before falling to the Aztecs with dynamic quarterback Jayvyn Capler hobbling with a knee injury. This is the first real adversity the team has faced all season.
Now the Indians will face Paloma Valley at home in the first round of the Division 7 playoffs. How they respond will be the difference between a first-round loss and playoff run.
Palm Springs head coach Dan Murphy said that his squad is in a great position and that he and his team are pleased with the division they're in and the pairing they have.
But Murphy also said that while Capler will play this week, whether the senior will be healthy enough to be a game-changer is still unclear.
"We'll have to see this week," Murphy said. "Day to day, (based) on his reaction to treatment."
How will Yucca Valley play after regular season finale canceled?
Coming out of a league that was only competitive at the top, Yucca Valley expected to be playing in Division 12 during the postseason. There are 14 football divisions in the CIF-SS.
But after looking at the pairings, and seeing that the Trojans will instead be in a more competitive Division 11, head coach Jeremy Johnson said that he still anticipates his squad having a chance to make a postseason run.
"After looking at the data and the competition," Johnson said, "I think we're going to do pretty well. Everyone's healthy and ready to go."
The Trojans will travel to play at South Pasadena in the first round of the Division 11 playoffs on Friday.
The real question is whether not having a game for two weeks will affect the Trojans. Last week's regular-season finale versus Twentynine Palms was canceled abruptly on Friday following an altercation during the day at Yucca Valley High School that caused the school to be temporarily locked down.
While not having a game helped prevent any injuries and kept players fresh, it'll be interesting to see if it take a quarter or two for the Trojans to get comfortable in a real game after not playing for two weeks.
Andrew John covers sports for The Desert Sun and the USA Today Network. Email him at andrew.john@desertsun.com and find him on Twitter at @Andrew_L_John.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: CIF-SS playoff pairings: Five takeaways on Coachella Valley matchups
